A wedding is hard enough to plan, let alone trying to keep it together during the coronavirus pandemic. What about all those things that most brides find essential to their wedding plans: hairdresser, the church, reception hall, caterer, band, photographer, the large number of family and friends who want to wish the happy couple good luck with their presence?

Some of these problems are what Megan Greger ran into when she married Tanner Kameda on April 18.

While the wedding was still held in Megan’s family’s back yard, they didn’t have the number of friends and family they had originally planned to host.

Their parents were there, of course. The bride’s parents are Bob and Marcy Greger of French Lick, and Tanner’s are Scott and Lisa Kameda of Paoli.

Also attending were Tanner’s two brothers and two sisters as well as Megan’s sister; her Granny, Donna Gilliatt, and husband, Bruce; her grandfather, Chuck Greger; and her uncle’s family, Rob and Stacy Denbo and two of their three daughters, Emma and Alayna.

Their original minister, Darrel Land, was willing to marry them despite the new circumstances. He is the preacher at Redemption Christian Church, where Tanner, Megan and her family attend.

“We had originally planned for a much larger wedding and reception, with the ceremony still being in my family’s backyard and the reception at the St. Anthony Community Center,” said Megan.

After the CDC began restricting numbers of people for gatherings, the couple had to cancel both the wedding and reception due to the invitation list including approximately 300 people.

So, out of necessity, it turned into a small family wedding, and the weather cooperated.

Megan said she was at first unaware that the masks were made from the same material as a dress. She said, “ I believe my grandmother told me the women’s white face masks were simply made with a fabric that has a lacy appearance. She wanted us to all wear the masks for a picture to remember what an odd celebration it truly was.”

Instead of a florist, Megan said her mom used a few of their flowers to brighten up the outside of the house. For Megan’s bridal flowers, they bought a bouquet from Walmart and added some greenery.

For their meal, instead of a caterer, they ordered takeout from Miguel’s restaurant in West Baden Springs after the ceremony.

In lieu of a reception, Megan did create a playlist with love songs to play as people arrived before the ceremony. She said, “We were actually able to reschedule for a later date at the St. Anthony Community Center.”

As for the honeymoon, Megan said, “We had planned to fly down to Fort Myers Beach, where family friends had allowed us to stay in their condo for a week, but we had to reschedule that as well due to our flight being cancelled. However, we do have credit for a honeymoon later this year.”

Instead, the couple drove up to Carmel, where Tanner is currently working and where they will reside for the time being. Tanner works as a software engineer from home, and Megan is preparing to become an occupational therapist.

Although Megan and Tanner did not yet get the wedding and reception or honeymoon they had planned, they rescheduled the large ceremony and reception for a later date this year.

Megan said, “We still have almost everything planned as we did for the April 18th date. The only vendor we were unable to reschedule with was our photographer, so all in all it worked out very well.

“It was much different than Tanner and I had planned, but it was beautiful, intimate.”